The grooming and washing of a pet such as a dog usually involves the use of several implements such as sponges, brushes, shampoo bottles and so forth. In addition, implements with rigid handles can often cause pain or injury to a squirming animal. The use of a glove, a mitten or other hand held device expressly designed for the purpose can simplify the process.
The prior art reveals several inventions that are related to the pet grooming or allied processes using such devices.
Davis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,251 relates to a hand-worn dispenser in the form of a thin-walled glove with a self-contained receptacle for storing dry or liquid material to be dispensed by squeezing. Having conduits extending from the reservoir along the fingers, sealed distal ends are severable to vary the material discharge rates.
Damm, U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,195 reveals an animal grooming device that is a pad attached to a wide strap which folds over and attaches around the palm of a hand. The pad has hook shaped bristles that are effective in controlling shedding of hairs on animal coats of longhaired dogs or cats.
Moore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,335 describes a scrubber device with a waterproof mitt. This is a cleaning device for protecting the hand and providing a bonded cleaning media such as a sponge or abrasive pad covering the palm and finger area. A reservoir for liquid, powder or paste material is located at the wrist dispensing via conduits into the palm pad.
Zielinski, U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,955 involves a therapeutic scrubbing mitten for cleansing the scalp of an infant. It is adapted for cleaning and rinsing with one hand while holding the infant with the other. A reservoir in the palm portion with a slit type seal for filling or emptying can be filled with rinsing water. Soft bristles facilitate scrubbing.
Wolgamuth, U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,349 relates to an ergonomic hand pet washing system consisting of one or two gloves that are worn by the user. The glove or gloves are connected by a resilient hose to a supply of pressurized water. Conduits on the palm side of the gloves split the flow into four streams discharging at the base of the fingers. Means are provided to introduce shampoo into the water stream at a valve assembly upstream of the gloves. A uniform distribution of rubber protrusions or nibs covers the palm and palm side of the glove fingers to aid in agitation of the liquid and massage of the animal.
Freulon, U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,572 describes an apparatus combining a fluid chamber, comb and brush in a common housing hose connected to a vacuum device to wash, comb, and dry an animal in a single operation.
Newkirk et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,709 describes a pet therapeutic glove with cutoff fingers and a thumb hole that can be used with or without a power-operated massager.
Lennon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,575 relates to an animal-grooming mitt with a rubber palm portion with nibs to facilitate removal of loose hair during grooming. The body of the mitt may be made of rigid material.
Courtney et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,837 describes a pet glove with fingers or finger holes adaptable to use one or more resilient pads with bristles. In some embodiments, the bristle pads are removably attached to the palm side of the glove.
Dowdy, U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,327 relates to a hand-held motor-driven apparatus using a flexible toothed belt guided by two pulleys to remove animal hairs, massage and distribute natural oils on an animal such as a horse.
While these prior art devices solve some of the problems associated with pet grooming, they do not incorporate the unique combination of features of the present invention.
They do not provide a pet grooming mitt which includes a large reservoir for dispensing cleaning fluid, such as shampoo, in an area extending from the distal finger tip area to the wrist area of the user, while providing a bristle pattern that both grooms animal fur, while dislodging fur hair snags during washing.